The Nature of Cities

After traveling through four cities in ten days, we have realized (again) that we are not what you call “city-people.” While some may justly dispute the statement that all cities are the same, we are beginning to believe this to be entirely true.

The nature of cities is that they are fast paced and crowded, noisy and smell of one pungent thing or another, and sidewalks are scattered with litter, gum, dog shit or sleeping people. They all have the nice districts and areas to avoid, and getting around is either slow and cheap or quick and expensive. However, the beauty of cities is that down every block you’re bound to discover a surprisingly delightful cafe or shop to escape the madness – which makes them fun and easier to love. This has been our overall experience in the cities we’ve visited thus far.

The nature of San Francisco:

San Francisco is unique because of its location and hilly topography. Our time was spent walking up and down the steep streets, taking the views of the bay and golden gate bridge, and enjoying the offerings of several fantastic restaurants. The sidewalks in San Francisco were among the widest we’ve walked, but their width merely gave way to a plethora of spit, trash and cracked-out crazies (another characterizing city trait).

The nature of Buenos Aires, Argentina:

Three days is barely enough time to explore all that Buenos Aires has to offer, so my impression is limited by this constraint. In three days we did it all: visited the rich areas and poorer areas, saw a show and some tango, overdosed on steak, empanadas and red wine, perused the antique markets, craft markets and food markets, and explored the streets, alley ways and famous Recoletta Cemetery for hours. We stayed up late and slept til noon each day, which felt fabulous. However, it is not cheap in BA and it is muy frio this time of year, so we were more than ready for our next – and temporarily final – destination, Bolivia.